For years, the vault of the Inmaculada Chapel at IES San Isidro – formerly known as Colegio Imperial de Madrid and Reales Estudios de San Isidro – has lived with wear and tear. Moisture, stains, blisters, peeling. Even the previous layer was visible … due to the large cracks that assailed its wall. Small holes, some resulting from old measurements to make the drawing, fragmented the pictorial surface. Without forgetting other small cracks, visible and distributed throughout the support, despite the interventions carried out at the end of the 18th century, beginning of the 19th century and in 1985.
The paintings, created by Juan Delgado (1675-1731), disciple of the great Claudio Coello, constitute an exceptional example of the “quadratura” technique, a pictorial genre of Italian origin linked to trompe l’oeil and architectural illusion. In the vault is exposed the vision of the Apocalypse of Saint John, with the Immaculate Conception as the central axis of the composition and the figure of God extending his hand to her. Faced with this situation, the Community of Madrid carried out a complete restoration of the murals that cover the vault of the chapel, an action aimed at stopping the deterioration, recovering the stability of the support and restoring the correct reading of the decorative ensemble, “an element of indisputable value in the history of education in Spain”.
Thus, the restoration work was structured in three phases, corresponding to different areas of the mural. Initially, cleaning of the surface was carried out by vacuuming, in order to remove accumulated dust and cobwebs adhered to the surface. Subsequently, repaintings unrelated to the original work were removed, mainly by mechanical intervention with a scalpel. The repaints that could not be removed have been reinstated with pastel colors.
Then, the salts present in the support were eliminated, the pictorial layer was fixed and the most fragile areas were consolidated. Likewise, larger cavities, cracks and fissures, responsible for a notable aesthetic impact, were filled. The most significant losses – including nail holes, large cracks and the Mercedarios area – were reinstated using the “tratteggio” technique, a method of reinstatement which involves filling in lost areas of a damaged work with very thin vertical and parallel strips of pure colors.
This action takes place in a building of exceptional historical importance. The San Isidro Secondary School has its origins in the Colegio Imperial de la Compañía de Jesús, a Jesuit educational center founded by Philip IV in 1625, in the historic center of Madrid – Toledo Street -, next to the Royal Collegiate Church of San Isidro, which for a century, let us remember, was the cathedral of the city (this category was provisionally granted to it when the diocese of Madrid-Alcalá was created in 1885), until the relief of the Almudena was required. On its main altar is the tomb of San Isidro, patron saint of the city. It is for this reason that the procession of the Royal, Illustrious and Fervorous Brotherhood of Jesús del Gran Poder y la Esperanza Macarena leaves from this temple during Holy Week.
The center, considered the oldest public secondary education establishment in Spain, celebrates its 400th anniversary this year and maintains its educational activity at the original headquarters of the school. Inside the property is the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, built by the Apostolic and Royal Congregation of Our Lady of the Conception and accessible from the Patio de los Estudios. It is a single-nave space, built in brickwork on a base of lime mortar and flint, covered with curved tiled gables and measuring 18.92 meters long, 10.87 meters wide and a maximum height of 10.23 meters. The plaster vault that covers the space, rebuilt in 1723, is presented again today in conditions suitable for conservation and contemplation.
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